Starring the Defense story
A former actor defends his son on murder charges. Directed by: Joseph Pevney. Story by: Henry Slesar.
20 total · 1 choice · 11 major · 8 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| persuasion of groups by rhetoric | choice | As pointedly alluded to in the title, Miles and Ed had an argument about whether Miles mustering his divine acting abilities and fatherly faith in his son to deliver an impassioned appeal could sway the jury despite the fact that there was not a shred of supporting evidence favoring their case. After Miles made his (rather theatrical) closing remarks it was revealed that he had lifted it verbatim from an old movie, and the ethics of doing so was explicitly discussed. |
| acting | major | A main novelty of the story is the former movie star Miles Crawford exploiting of his supreme acting ability to sway the jury in his son's murder trial. |
| beating one's self up | major | Miles confided in his old friend Sam that it was his own fault that Tod had turned out as he did. |
| father and son | major | The whole story centered on the former actor Miles Crawford defending his son, Tod, on a murder charge in a court of law. |
| guilt and evidence | major | Tod had been provoked into a knife fight with a "friend" whom he had a somewhat complicated relationship with. Tod ended up killing the friend and was charged with first degree murder. The story discusses whether and to what extent Tod perhaps ought to be charged with, for example, second degree murder, manslaughter, or let off on self-defense instead. In light of the fact, as a witness told it, that he did not instigate the fight it might indeed seem rather harsh to the viewer to convict him of premeditated murder. The judge seemed to agree that there were plenty of mitigating circumstances, in the end, even though he upheld the guilty verdict delivered by the jury. |
| legal occupation | major | The story follows a lawyer in his efforts to influence a jury to rule in the favor of his client, who also happen to be his son. |
| male-male rivalry | major | The story explores the aftermath of Tod killing his frenemy Jules, stemming from their rivalry over Babs Riordan. |
| mercy | major | The story pointedly ended with Miles swaying the judge into taking mercy on Tod by sparing him the death penalty. The judge instead sentenced Tod to life in prison with the possibility of parole, citing that Tod might still become a valuable member of society. |
| murder | major | Tod was tried for and ultimately found guilty of murder over having dispatched a friend/rival in a knife fight. |
| neglectful parent | major | Miles was beating himself up because he thought his son Tod's now delinquent behavior was down to Miles not spending enough time with him when they were younger. |